El Paso Community College students and the local community received a visual treat as the Paradox Traveling Art Bus, an immersive art installment, made its way to the EPCC Valle Verde campus. The mobile gallery, housed in a converted school bus, is the brainchild of artist Laura Turón, an El Paso native with roots in Acapulco, Mexico. Turón's project brings the experience of art outside traditional museum walls, reaching areas where such cultural engagements are scarce.
The installation on display, 'Enchanted Skies,' draws its inspiration from the Northern Lights, aiming to encapsulate its dynamic essence. At the Valle Verde campus event, which was open to all at no cost, Turón not only showcased her work but also shared her journey with art students, “I came about this idea back in 2013 when I was trying to create sculptures, and set them up in unconventional spaces, like parks, outside of houses, and in the desert," Turón said, as per EPCC News. She went on to explain the logistical challenges that led her to the innovative idea of a mobile art space.
The project not only represents an art exhibit, but also a collaborative and interdisciplinary venture. Laura Turón has worked with a variety of experts spanning from sound designers to scientists, demonstrating the intersectionality of art with other fields. According to EPCC News, the 'Enchanted Skies' features a song by an artist from her art residency in Iceland, incorporating environmental sounds with piano and synthesizers to create an audiovisual experience reflecting the scientific phenomenon of the aurora borealis.
EPCC Assistant Art Professor Isadora Jackson expressed enthusiasm about the Paradox Traveling Art Bus's contribution to the educational and cultural landscape of the college. "She is also working with electromagnetic labs, sound designers, scientists, and travels to do the artist residency, so it allows students to see the multiplicities of how an art practice can look and an artist from our region do on a national scale," Jackson said, noting the broad potential impact such a project has. “We're exposing the larger campus to so many different ways of making art, and that's really exciting to me," Jackson described, as obtained by EPCC News.
The traveling exhibit is set to continue its journey, with a scheduled stop at the Transmountain campus on Wednesday, April 30. Similar to its previous engagements, the visit will offer free entry and remain accessible to both students and the general public, reinforcing the ethos of art as a democratic and community-centric experience.
